Hungarian student Jack Daboma after the incident at Valletta bus terminus earlier this summer. Photos: Darrin Zammit Lupi

The Hungarian student who was racially assaulted earlier this summer is expected to be charged today with disturbing the peace and smearing his aggressor’s reputation, the Times of Malta has learnt.

Police sources said that Jack Daboma will be charged with “destroying the reputation” of Alison Cutajar, who allegedly spat at him and later slapped Mr Daboma as he tried to organise a queue during the flopped launch of the Tallinja card scheme.

The incident hit the headlines after the release of a video showing Mr Daboma being arrested by police officers with a backdrop of racial sneering from people in a crowd at the Valletta bus terminal.

“The worst thing was that the people gathered there applauded and cheered when I was on the ground being arrested. It made me cry that my children had to see that,” he said to the Times of Malta.

Ms Cutajar will also appear in court today and is expected to be charged with a racially motivated assault.

The police had been looking for Mr Daboma’s assailant for several days before Ms Cutajar turned herself in when her photo was published in the press.

The worst thing was that the people gathered there applauded and cheered when I was on the ground being arrested

She is expected to plead not guilty to the charges, drafted after Mr Daboma called on the Police Commissioner to take action.

Police sources said Ms Cutajar had admitted during interrogation that she had tried to slap Mr Daboma but insisted she had made no contact with him other than his sunglasses.

She is also denying that the assault was racially motivated.

The sources said Ms Cutajar claimed she was provoked by Mr Daboma when he insulted her, calling her a “b****” when she refused to stand in the queue.

Mr Daboma, however, is denying this and insisted to the police that Ms Cutajar did slap him after spitting in his face. He insisted the incident was “purely racially motivated” and that he had never insulted anyone at the Valletta bus terminus.

Jack Daboma after the incident at the bus station.

After the incident, Mr Daboma told the Times of Malta the crowd gathered at the incident had told him to “go back to his country”, which had bewildered him because, although he was of Nigerian descent, he had been a citizen of Hungary for several years.

A chemical engineer, Mr Daboma has been in Malta for over a year. Having first arrived on a student exchange programme, he is now working for a local bio-chemistry company.

The police sources said Mr Daboma had chosen not to consult a lawyer before his interrogation and that he was adamant he was the victim. They said he had told investigators a police officer had been present throughout the entire incident and had had ample opportunity to inform the Rapid Intervention Unit officers he was the one who had been assaulted but had chosen not to.